Mechanical toy



J. J. BECKER April 10, 1928, 1,665,578

MECHANICAL TOY Filed Dec. 22. 1925 INVENTOR. 757172 I Becker BY Mum;

ATTORNEY.

Patented a. 10, 1928.

* UNITED STATES rarsnrotrics.

was :r. BECKER, on BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

MECHANICAL TOY.

Application filed December 22, 1925 Serial No. 7 3,952.

l\l y invention relates to mechanical toys l and more particularly to that class of toys tic appearance, of educational value, and

which may be a source of instruction or amusement to children and adults. I u

Another object is, to providea toy of this type in which the movable parts pend ant armsare so colored that when actuated they willproduce an opticalgelfect resembling a blended ring or rings of color or colors. r v 1 Another object is, to provide a toy of this character of such construction that it may be conveniently assembled-or disassembled for repair or transportation in containers and effectively supported for travelling movement.

Another object is, to provide a toy in which, when the rotor is actuated, the arms shall be caused to swing outwardly tosimulate or suggest the movement of objects in restrained flight.

Another object is, to provide a toyv of such construction that it willhave long life under ordinary usage, be exceedingly durable, not

readily broken, positive in its operation and have other advantages and result may hereinafter appear. v

Another object is, to provide a" toy in which a rotor having swinging pendant arms is actuated by the movement of a carriage, by means of drivingmechanismsupported by the carriage and adapted to transmit to the rotor the rotary movement of the carriage wheels when the carriage travels.

i Another object; is, toiprovide a device of this type in whicha rotorisso. disposed and actuated that pendant swinging arms carried on the periphery thereof will beactuated by centrifugal force and thereby" be thrown radially outward topositions ot' ele s whichv gear 17,, which is carried at one end of the vation which vary with the speed of the travelling movement of the carriage.-

My invention consistsin the particular i construction, combination, organization and arrangement of parts shown in the accom pa'nying drawings, described in the specification and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims. I

In the accompanying drawings: i

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my invention,

partly in cross section;

with some parts broken away,

showing the assembled relation ofthe parts and the means for actuating; the rotor by the movement of the travelling carriage. I V r 2 is a top plan view of the rotor, illustrating its formationandassembly of" the pendantarms therewith.

Referring more particularly to the draw ings, in which like. niin'ierals of reference indicate corresponding parts, my device comprisesa base 110, provided near each end with axles 11 and 12, 'whichYextnd through the base 10 from side to side and at least of which, preferably 11, is rotatable, in the base. lVheTels 13 and 14 to support the earriage in its; travelling movement aremounted on the axles .11 and 12, and thewheels 14 may be looselymounted on the shaft 12 and heldagainst displacement therefrom by cotter pins 15 or any other suitable means'i The wheels 13 are fixed to shaft 11, sothat when the carriage 10 is caused to travel and the wheels ,13 rotate the shaft'll will be rotatably driven thereby; I

Below the. body 10 of the carriage, affixed to the shaft 11, substantially midway its length and rotating therewith when the car riage is caused tottravel, is a bevel gear 16. The gear 16 meshes with a co-acting' bevel shaft 18, which latter is rotatab'ly mounted in'brackets or han ers 1e ammo, afliirecl to and ext-ending beneath the-body of-the' car-' riiage 10., The shaft 18, substantially int'e'r mediately its length, is provided with a; bevel gear 21, so arranged that it. may be ad'- judstedr lengthwise on',.s'haft-18, but. which turns wi th said shaft whenthe carriage ne els and which is adapted to transmit the rotary motion offthe-whe'lsj'lfiSto means connected with a rotor, hereinafter'tobe described. r I

The 18, at the opposite til ' gear 16 will rotate and by means of the bevel an adjustal'ile collar face of the carriage body 10 by clinch pins 25, or other suitable fastening means, that engage the base of'the standard and hold it in fixed relation to the carriage body. The post orstandard 12 i is provided with a substantially central tubular portion or chamber 26, exteniiling substantially its entire length which, near its l'iotto n ei'id, has an enlarged section 27 and at its upperend a section 28 of lesser diameter than the illain body portion of the tubular chan'iber 26. At the upper end of the post or standard a substantially circular eyelet 29 partially inset into thepost or standard 2% so, that it projects above lthevlevel of the surface of the upper end thereof andlis concentric with the tubular portion 28 of the chamber 26.

A verticalrotatable shaft 30 extends longi-.

tudinally through the post or standard 24-.

and is encased in the chamber 26, terminat ing at its lower end beneath the body 10 of the carriage and at its upper end n'o iecting a suitable distance above the top of the post 24:. The shaft 30 is provided with an adjustable collar 31, which rests upon the eyelet, 29 and thereby provides a support-or bearing upon which shaft 30 mayrotate when actuated. Near its lower end the shaft 30 is also provided with an adjustable collar 32 encased within the enlarged lower end P01? tion 27 of the chamber 26, so that the shaft 2-30 may be retained in its proper operative position. v

Atthe lower end of the shaft 30 there is mounted a bevel gear 33, in fixed relation to the shaft- 30 rotating therewith. and adapted to mesh with the bevel gear 21 of the shaft 18. When the carriage travels, the bevel gear 17 will rotate the shaft 18, which in turn will rotate the bevel gear 21, and the latter, meshing with the bevel gear 33, will cruise the bevel gear 33 to rotate and will thereby elfeet the rotation of the upright vertical shaft 30. The diminished section 28 of the upper portion of the chamber 26 in the standard or post 24 is of such size that it will afford a bearing for that portion of the shaft 30 which it surrounds and engages and will thereby effect a proper operative positioning of theshaft 30and the desired operative relation to these parts. i

Carried onand fixed to the upper end of the vertical shaft 30 isa substantially disc rotated by the vertical shaft 30.

shaft 30 and rotated"thereby when the car riage travels. The disc like rotor 34 is shown to be of slightly convexed formation of any suitable or desired shape and formation that will permit its being carried and Around the periphery of the rotor is provided a series of radially disposed incut or re cessed sections 35, between which sections the outer peripheral edge of the rotor is downwardly and inwardly bent to form a tubular margin or eclige fltij Carried by and encased in the tubular n'iargin (ii-{edge 256 is a split ring 37,ei tending substantially completely around the under side of theperipheraledge oftherotor, so, that the outer open and circular shape but itniay be constructed portion of the incutsections are each bridged by a portion of the ring 37. In each of the :incut sections $5 of the rotor,

swingably mounted on portions of the split of the incut sections 35;: These depending arms 8Sareprov1ded, at their lower ends,

one of a series of depending arms ,38

ring 37 which bridge the openlend of each 1 with enlarged ball like members or balls 39 and at their upper ends with an enlarged substantially conical shaped stop member 40. The ball like members 39 serve'as weights to normally retain the depending arms 38 in substantially vertical position, as shown in F129;. 1. depending from the rotor (l l when 9 the carriage is stationary and tlieu'otor is not being rotatedfllVhen the carriage is tfiillSGl'ltO travel andthe wheels 13 rotate, the shaft 11 will be rotated and the bevel near 16, rotating with the shaft lland meshing with the bevel {rear 17, willrotate-the shaft 18 and the verticalshaft 30 will therebybe rotatedbythe bevel gear 21 meshing with the bevel gearB on the shaft 30 and the rotor 34 carried at the top of the shaft i 30 will thereby be'caused to rotate] The weighted depending arms 38, when the rotor is thus rotated will, by theaction of centrifugalfforce, tend to be thrown radially outward to a greater or lesser degree of ele vation as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, until, it the speed of rotation of the rotor is sutliciently increased by "the increased. speed of n'ioveinent of the carriage, the arms 38 will assume a substantially horizontal position, as shown in thetopinost pair of dotted lines in Fig. 1. y a l y In order to limit the height to whichtho ar1ns38 may be thrown by the travel ofthe carriage and the rotation of the rotor 34, conical shaped stop members 40 are provided on the upper endof the depending arms 38 of such shape andsizethat whenthe arms 38 are, bythe movementofthecarriage, elevated tothe desired predetermined degree, d the members 40 will contact with the oppop a site edges of the incut peripheral sections like rotor 34:, adapted to be carried by the of the rotor and providea stop, to limit further elevation of the arms, as is'sliown int-he dotted lines in Fig. 1.

Each of the depending arms 38 is provided ing iiiove'rnent inwardly and outwardly, radi ally, as the rotation of the rotor decreasesor increases with the change in speed of the movement of the carriage, but are prevented any substantial lateral swinging movement which might otherwise interfere with the intended operation of my device. v

The travelling movement of the carriage may beeli'ected by pushing or pullling it, so that the wheels 13 will'rotate and, as described, actuate the rota-tor 34 and effect the outward radial displacement of the swinging arms 38. Tofacilitate this travelling movement. I provide at one end of the body 10 of the carriage a sliding arm 4-2, which supported in a slot 43 at one end of the bodylO and which, at its inner end, has an angularly bent portion 44 adapted to engage the stop 45 carried on the underside of the carriage body 10. This arm 42 is so mounted that it can slide backwardly and forwardly a limited distance, so that when desired it may be retracted with its outer end 46 abutting against the end of the carriage body 10 and Offer substantially no obstruction to a convenient and compact. packing of the device in aisuitable container while, at the same time, amayte drawn outwardly as shown in Fig. 1 when it is desired to. cause thecarriage toitravel by means of pulling force, which may be exerted on a cord or other suitable means, not shown, but which may be attached to theouter end 46 of the arm 42. 'The arm 42 is provided to slideoutwardly, as shown in Fig.1, so that when the carriage is pulled, as described, and

the depending arms are thrown outwardly by centrifugal force, as the carriage travels,- the arms will be free to swing without coming in contact with the pulling cord.

The collars 31 and 32 on the shaft 30 on the upper and lower ends respectively of the post or standard 2% are arranged to be adjustable longitudinally on the shaft 30, in order that the shaft: maybe given the proper position of vertical elevation to enable the gear to properly mesh with .the bevel gear 21 andetlect the desired rotation of the rotor 34.

In the formation of my deviceas shown in Fig. 1 I prefer to construct the carriage body 10 and the brackets 19 and 20 and the other actuating transmitting mechanism of metal or other suitable materials, while the wheels,

upright standard or post 24, the depending arms 38, the balls89 andthe cone shaped stop.

durable construction and members 10, I prefer tofconstruct'ot' wood or other suitable material, although it is obvious that any suitable material may be employed iii the construction of the respective parts of my device. 1

s I also create a novel optical color effect when the rotor is operating,"by variously 'coloring the visible moving parts of my device, particularly the rotor 84, the arms 38, the balls 39 and the StOPl'llBlDbGlS 40.

- The operation oi iny device is as follows The carriage is caused. to travel b 7 being in h pulled, for instance, by means attached to the bar 42,"the wheels 13 will. rotate and rotate the axle11,which will thus cause theb'evel gear 16 carried thereon to rotate. The gear 16 meshing with the gear 17,will rotate'the shaft 18 and the bevel gear 21 mounted thereon. The bevel gear 2lthus rotating and meshing with the bevel gear 33 will rotate theyshat't SO and cause the rotor 34l carried thereon and rotating therewith, to rotate. H

his the speed of travel of the carriage increases the depending arms'38 will swing up on the supporting split ring-37 and bethrowii radially outward, by the action of centrifugal force, until the outward swing of thearms 38 has been stopped by the contact ofthe conical stop 40 with the edge of the incut sections 35- in the periphery of the rotor 34. As the speed of travel of the carriage decreases the action of tl'ie centrit'ugal force will decrease and the swingingarms 38 will swing inwardly'under'th'e force of gravity, until at the cessation oftravel of the carriage they will assume the pendant position shown in Fig. 1.

By means of the adjustable relation to each other of the power transmitting elements of my device, my apparatus 18- peculiarly adapted'to sure and positive operation when desired. By means of the peculiar construction, assembly and organization ot the parts otiny device I ht'ivehproduced an apparatus which can. be readilyassen'ibled and readily disassembled-and which may be packed in a compact shape for transportation, which is of readily repaired.

Althoirighl have thus described my inven tion iii-detail and s iiecifically illustratedit in the accompanying drawings, I do not wish to be limited to the particular form of embodiment shown, norby the} term of do scription defining it, except as the state oi? the art and the'appended claims may require, for it is obvious that various modiii cations may be made in the combination, organization, andv arrangement of parts of my invention, without departing -from the spirit and scope thereof.

Having thus described my invention inwhich may be supporting said carriage a rotatable axle carried and actuatedby one pair of rotatable wheels, a vertical shaft rotatably mounted on and extending above said carriage, a rotor mounted above said carriage on said shaftadapted to be rotated thereby "in a horizontal plane and having a series of radially incut sections at the periphery thereof, a series ofindependent arms de pending from said rotor, the same being pivotally mounted in said incut sections and adapted to swing radially outward there from, members integral with and fixed to the free ends of said radial arms and being of greater diameter than the diameter of the to be rotated thereby in a horizontal plane,

a series of independent a ins depending from thesperiphery of said rotoradapted to swing radially ball-like members integral with and fixed to the ;free ends of said radial arms, stop meanson said radial arms cooperating with saidu'otor adapted to limit the outward swing of said arms androtating means connecting said axle and said vertical shaft.

adapted to transmit the rotary motion of said axle to said vertical shaft and effect the rotation of saidsrotorand the radial outward swinging of said depending arms.

In a mechanical toy, the combination of a travelling carriage, rotatablewheels supporting said carriage, a rotatable axle carried and actuated by one, palr of rotatable wheels, a vertical tubular standard fixed to and extending above said carriage,

a, verticalshaft rotatably mounted on and extending itlOOVO/Stlld carrlage neased within and supported bysaid staudarcha rotor fixed to and carried by the upper end of said vertical shaft adapted to be rotated thereby in a horizontal plane, a series of independ ent dependlng arms mounted on the periph cry of said rotor adapted to be swung radially outward therefrom, ball like: members fixed to and integral with said arms disposed at the lower ends thereof, stop members fixedto and integral with said arms disposed at the upper ends thereof, a gear adapted to rotate said Vertical shaft and fixed to the lower end thereof, a gear fixed to and adapted to rotate with said axle disoutward therefrom,

posed intermediate said rotatable-wheels and gear means connecting said axle gear and said vertical; shaft ,gear, adapted to transmit the rotary motion of a said axle to said vertical shaft and gear thereonand thereby effect the rotation of said rotor and the radial outward swingingof said: depend ing arms. i

4. In a mechanical toy, the combination of a travelling carriage, rotatable wheels supporting said carriage, a rotatable axle carried and actuated by one pairof rotatable wheels, a vertical tubular standard mounted on and extendingabove said carriage, journalbearings in the upper and lower ends of said vertical standard, a vertical. shaft mounted on and extending above said carriage incased within said tubular, standard and rotatably supported in said journal bearings, a rotor'fixed to and carried by the upper end of said vertical shaft adapted to be rotated-thereby in a horizon tal plane, a series of radially incut sections disposed around the periphery of said rotor,,

a series of depending arms mounted at the periphery of said rotor in said incutflsed tions adapted to beswung radiallyoutward from said rotor, ball likemembers fixed to and integral with saidrarms disposed at the lower ends thereof, stop members fixed to and integral with the said arms disposed at the upper ends thereof, co-operating with said incut sections, a gear adapted to rotate said vertical shaft and fixed to the lower end thereof, a gear fixed to and adapted to rotate with .said axle, brackets carried by said travelling carriage and" depending tlierebelow, an adjustable shaft "rotatably mounted in said brackets, a gear on said shaft meshingtwith the vertleal shaft gear and a gear near the other-end of said shaft meshing with said axle, gearfadapted to transmit the rotary motioirof said axle to said vertical 3 shaft and gear thereon and thereby effect the rotation of said rotor and the radial outward pending arms.

swinging of said de- 5. In mechanical toy, the combination of a travelling carriage, rotatable means supporting said carriage, a rotatable axle carried and actuated g by said rotatable means, a gear fixedto and rotatedby said axle, an upwardly extending vertical shaft mounted on said carriage, a gear .fixed to the lower end thereof and adapted to rotate said shaft, an. upwardlyextending vertical tubular standard adapted to support said vertical shaft in operative position, means on said vertical shaft adaptedt'o vertically adjust said shaft in relation to said stand ard, a rotor fixed to the upper end of said shaftand adapted to be rotated thereby, in a horizontal p1ane, a series of radially'disposed incut sections aroundthe periphery of sald rotor-,supporting means carried by y said rotor conforming to the periphery thereof and spanning the radially disposed incut sections, a series of arms disposed within said incut sections mounted on said supporting means and adapted to swing radially outward from the periphery of said rotor, ball like members at the low r end of said arms integral therewith, stop members at the upper end of said arms integral therewith adapted to co-operat-e with said incut sections and limit the outward swinging of said arms, an adjustable rotatable shaft disposed beneath said travelling carriage adapted to rotatably support said shaft and gears carried by said shaft adapted toengage said gear on said vertical shaft and said gear on said axle and trai'ismit the rotary mot-ion to said axle, to said vertical shaft and rotor and thereby etlectthe rota tion of said rotor and the radial outward swinging of said depending arms.

6. In a mechanical toy. a traveling carriage, rotatable wheels supporting said carriage, rotatable means actuated by a pair of said wheels including a vertical shaft er:- tending above the carriage, means for sup porting said shaft on the carriage, a disk fixedly secured to the upper end of the shaft to rotate therewith and spaced from said shaft supporting means, and a senes of 1ndcpendent means pivotally attached toanddepending from said disk and adapted to be swung outwardly upon rotation of sa d disk, the arms each havlng an enlargement at its upperend for engagement with the periphery, and a series of independent arms pivoted at the upper ends in said sections of the disk, the arn'ls each having an enlarged lower end and also an enlar ed upper 23 end, the latter being adapted to engage the disk to limit the outward swing of the arms. Signed at the borough ofBrooklyn, city of New York, in the county of Kings and State of New York, this 21st day of December A. D. 1925.

JOHN J. BECKER. 

